Miso Extra returns with her irrepressible new single ‘2nd Floor’ and announces a debut London headline show

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Gritty and high energy, with whipsnap beats, the track was co-produced with her frequent collaborators Tricky N’ Duke. It arrives as a double single, alongside her take on Little Dragon’s tender track ‘Constant Surprises’.

Speaking about ‘2nd Floor’, Miso Extra says “It’s a song that explores the moment you realise you’re in a toxic relationship and the anguish from realising your own naivety. There’s hope though in the line in Japanese that states “I don’t need a Prince” to allude to the idea that I can be my own knight in shining armour to have my happily ever after and not rely on another to be my source of joy.

And about ‘Constant Surprises’, “I adore the band Little Dragon and the lyrics in this song particularly resonate with me as I am often prone to daydreaming. To me this song serves as a beautiful reminder to count my blessings.”

Accompanying ‘2nd Floor’ is a powerful video, directed by Claryn Chong and produced by Beatnik Creative. It sees Miso Extra shed herself of her floor length plaits, before adorning her very own armour. Miso explains, “as it was a break up song about gaining clarity the first thought I had was “What’s the first thing that all people do when they go through a shift in life” Answer: Cut their hair! So we felt why not have a video where I cut my hair!”

 

Miso Extra is the solo project and moniker behind the fast-rising, trailblazing artist. Born in Hong Kong to a British father and Japanese mother, she moved to Japan when she was a child and later relocated to the UK. Growing up, she learnt how to play the violin and loved to sing. Her musical influences include J Dilla, the late MF DOOM, Daft Punk and Kelis. Aside from music, anime has been a huge inspiration, with all these references woven into her work today.

Though she was musically inclined from a young age, music wasn’t a path that Miso envisioned for herself due to the lack of Asian representation in the industry. As someone who often bottles up her feelings, music has enabled her to articulate herself, providing her with a conduit through which she can express and make sense of her emotions. “A lot of the music is my observations on self-reflecting. It’s the form of self-talk. Being part Japanese and British, it’s trying to marry that gap of being Asian but not Asian enough and being Western but not Western enough. It’s trying to toe that line constantly.

In 2020, during the UK’s lockdown, Miso began to finesse her skills. As the world hit pause, Miso Extra – her musical persona – was born. The name is a pun derived from the racism that the artist experienced growing up in the UK. Having received taunts such as “me so horny”, and subverting the stereotype of Asian people being quiet, she reclaims the phrase, flipping it into “me so extra” – or Miso Extra. The alias is an anime-inspired character; a musical entity who lives in an alternate world, known as the Misoverse. Miso Extra is a peace-loving warrior who leans away from violence, but will engage in conflict if necessary. She chooses to see the good in people and values real talk, but isn’t so naive as to not see the truth from them. Miso Extra is hopeful; a character who values love and sees insecurities as learning curves for us to push through.

The double single drop follows the release of Miso Extra’s recently ‘MSG’ EP, which arrived in the summer to critical acclaim. Her single ‘50/50’ was added to the A List on BBC 6 Music, for whom she recently performed in session, with the airwaves alight from multiple spins on BBC Radio 1, BBC 1Xtra and Apple Music Radio. She received praise from titles such as The Guardian, CRACK, Dazed, DORK, NME, The FADER, The Line of Best Fit, MusicTech and Notion, and has adorned stages at Pitchfork Festival, BBC Introducing at Reading & Leeds Festivals, Primavera Weekender and The Great Escape. She has also played as support to Thundercat at O2 Brixton Academy, London and Marc Rebillet on his UK tour.

 

Miso Extra has announced her debut London headline show, to take place at The Lower Third on 12th March 2024 – tickets will go on sale on Friday 24th November and will be available HERE.